Striking Minneapolis park workers return to work next week after tentative agreement reached

Striking Minneapolis park workers and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, representatives from both the MPRB and LIUNA Local 363 tell Bring Me The News.

The two sides signed tentative agreements on contracts for both full-time and seasonal workers, as well as a return-to-work agreement that will have union members working again on Monday, July 29.

The MPRB says union members will vote on the agreement next week, adding that the park board "is optimistic that the contract will be accepted by Local 363 members."

The tentative deal was finalized during mediation sessions on Thursday and Friday, which were preceded by more contentious back-and-forth between the two sides. Workers sat in on a Wednesday MPRB meeting and delivered a petition on Thursday morning that the union says contained "thousands of signatures for a no-confidence petition" concerning the park board and Superintendent Al Bangoura.

Before Friday's bargaining session, A.J. Lange, business manager for the union, told KARE 11 that the union agreed to the MPRB's wage offer of a 10.25% wage increase over three years with a $1.75 market adjustment for select positions.

Details on the contract have not been made public, but Lange said prior to Friday's session that there was still work to be done on provisions about the number of stewards the union can have, how workers get paid when filling in for managers, and details around annual performance reviews.

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